Talk:History of the alphabet

	; Archives (Index) ;
	1;
	This page is archived by ClueBot III.

Writing systems High‑importance

	Writing portal This article falls within the scope of WikiProject Writing systems, a WikiProject interested in improving the encyclopaedic coverage and content of articles relating to writing systems on Wikipedia. If you would like to help out, you are welcome to drop by the project page and/or leave a query at the project’s talk page.Writing systemsWikipedia:WikiProject Writing systemsTemplate:WikiProject Writing systemsWriting system articles
High	This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale.

Discovery from c. 2400 BC

Shouldn't we add some information about the discovery of alphabetic inscriptions found in 2004 at an archaeological site in northern Syria, which date to c. 2400 BC? Source: https://archive.ph/YOsqx 98.123.38.211 (talk) 00:28, 23 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

That's kind of vague about critical details. Does it write consonants and vowels separately (as the transcription "silanu" suggests), something which is not otherwise attested until much later? Or is it a consonantal alphabet (as all other known early alphabets were)? Is there any evidence it influenced the main-line of development leading to the Phoenician alphabet (because the evidence of the acrophonic principle is quite strong -- the Egyptian hieroglyph meaning "house" was visually borrowed, and then assigned the sound-value [b] because the Semitic word for "house" [baytu] began with [b]). If it didn't have later influence, then it's a quirky thing off to the side... AnonMoos (talk) 15:57, 23 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]